Students from Fairhope’s Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre and Eastern Shore Rep Kids and Sunny Side Theater in Mobile won national awards and recognition at the 2017 iTheatrics Junior Theater Festival Atlanta, which happened Jan. 13 through 15 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre (senior team) received a Freddie G Outstanding Production award. As one of just nine schools from across the country to win a Freddie G Outstanding Production Award, the students performed a song from Singin’ in the Rain JR. production for all 6,000 festival attendees. Eastern Shore Repertory’s Theatre Kids (the team), Kids won a Freddie G award for Excellence in Dance. Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre was one of five educational musical theater groups across the nation to perform as part of the New Works Showcase. The students performed selections from Junie B. Jones JR. for all 6,000 festival attendees, in the audience was the show’s authors Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich. Sunny Side Theater won a Freddie G Award for Outstanding Ensemble and Sunny Side Theater student Lauren Westbrook won a Freddie G Group Award for Outstanding Student Director and Choreographer. Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre’s Payton Robinson, Jack Hearin, Joe Solomon, Charles Carey and Chloe Theriot and Eastern Shore Rep Kids’ Broxton Cook was six of 142 students who made it to the call-back for future Broadway Junior shoots for “how-to” choreography videos for soon-to-be released Broadway Junior musicals. The shoots will be taped in New York City this summer. The Broadway Junior scouts were on the lookout for outstanding students, out of 5,800 students at the festival, 500 were invited to audition for iTheatrics resident choreographer Steven G. Kennedy. The final cast will be determined later this year. These videos will be used in tens of thousands of schools across the country and internationally. Additionally, Sunny Side Theater’s Dylan Farnell and Lauren Westbrook; Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre’s Liam Searcy and Chloe Theriot, and Eastern Shore Rep Kids Charles Carey and Victoria Whatley were named to the Junior Theater Festival All-Stars, made up of outstanding performers attending the festival. The All-Stars performed a song during the closing ceremony for all 6,000 festival attendees. The students representing Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre presented selections from Singin' in the Rain JR. for director, choreographer and performer Jacob Brent (appeared in Broadway, London and DVD productions of Cats and Starlight Express, directed premiere of Avenue Q School Edition) and First Stage Education Director Julia Magnasco. “Eastern Shore Repertory Theatre displayed outstanding energy, impeccable ensemble dance numbers, and a commitment to embodying the style of Singin’ In The Rain JR,” Magnasco said. “The young performers were so engaged in telling the story, it had the entire audience singing along and dancing in their seats.” The students representing Eastern Shore Rep Kids presented selections from Bugsy Malone, JR. for producing Artistic Director at Adventure Theatre MTC Michael Bobbit and Associate Professor, Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities, Head of Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities at the University of Texas at Austin, Megan Alrutz. “Holy moly!” Bobbit said “Something must be in the water in Alabama. What these kids did reminded me of how much I love and need musical theater in my life!”